- Apr 22, 2013
- 255
- 9
- 93
I swear, if it's not one thing it's another.
Being a week after one of the horses got close & personal with a porcupine - Last night I got a phone call from the woman who owns the property where I keep the chickens & my horse. It was her night to do barn chores. She told me that one of the hens was behind one of the run in sheds, & they went to get her she came out hopping on one leg. It looked to be broken. She put her in her own stall & when I went up this morning I put her in a dog crate, elevated it enough so that she can get some fresh air & sunshine through the top dutch door. She's eating, & drinking. She's mostly laying on her good side, keeping her bad leg on top & pulled up. She moves her toes, but just slightly & doesn't grip with them. Every now & again she'll sit slightly up right, but still not putting weight on the bad leg (which is good). I've felt the entire leg, & it almost feels like it's in the hock joint, or right above it. It felt a little out of place this morning, but I'm pretty sure that I put it back right before I felt like I was going to pass out.
I think that she just got in the way of one of the horses, got stepped on, & panicked before the horse got off of her. No open wounds. I've been trying to do a lot of reading chickens with broken legs on-line. I've read a lot about just leaving them in something small for about a month & not splinting, that splinting can do more harm than good.
Does anyone have any pointers? To splint, or not to splint? If splinting is the way to go, how the heck would I splint that area? I'm giving her some mealworms for extra protein, & vitamins & electrolytes in her water. Is there anything else that I can give her to help her out?
I know some may think that I should just put her down, but she seems to be acting well (alert, bright eyed, eating, drinking, not making any noises) & it's hard to think about putting her down if she might make it. There's not really any good bird vets in my area. Mostly dog, cat, cow, & horse vets.
Being a week after one of the horses got close & personal with a porcupine - Last night I got a phone call from the woman who owns the property where I keep the chickens & my horse. It was her night to do barn chores. She told me that one of the hens was behind one of the run in sheds, & they went to get her she came out hopping on one leg. It looked to be broken. She put her in her own stall & when I went up this morning I put her in a dog crate, elevated it enough so that she can get some fresh air & sunshine through the top dutch door. She's eating, & drinking. She's mostly laying on her good side, keeping her bad leg on top & pulled up. She moves her toes, but just slightly & doesn't grip with them. Every now & again she'll sit slightly up right, but still not putting weight on the bad leg (which is good). I've felt the entire leg, & it almost feels like it's in the hock joint, or right above it. It felt a little out of place this morning, but I'm pretty sure that I put it back right before I felt like I was going to pass out.
I think that she just got in the way of one of the horses, got stepped on, & panicked before the horse got off of her. No open wounds. I've been trying to do a lot of reading chickens with broken legs on-line. I've read a lot about just leaving them in something small for about a month & not splinting, that splinting can do more harm than good.
Does anyone have any pointers? To splint, or not to splint? If splinting is the way to go, how the heck would I splint that area? I'm giving her some mealworms for extra protein, & vitamins & electrolytes in her water. Is there anything else that I can give her to help her out?
I know some may think that I should just put her down, but she seems to be acting well (alert, bright eyed, eating, drinking, not making any noises) & it's hard to think about putting her down if she might make it. There's not really any good bird vets in my area. Mostly dog, cat, cow, & horse vets.
